Monday Novr. 3. 1783.

Went in the Evening to the theatre, Drury Lane where Measure for Measure, with the Apprentice1 were represented. Mrs. Siddons play’d the part of Isabella in measure for measure, because it had been said, she could not speak Shakespeare’s lines; and that she could not play in Comedy; for the first part she prov’d the contrary; as she play’d extremely well, but the critics say she has not yet play’d in Comedy; as the Character of Isabella has nothing Comick in it; in this play; and the piece itself Notwithstanding it’s ending well, being more a Tragedy than a Comedy.

1. By Arthur Murphy, London, 1756 (Biographia Dramatica description begins David Erskine Baker and others, eds., Biographia Dramatica; Or, A Companion to the Play House ..., London, 1764-1812; 3 vols, in 4. description ends ).

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Source Project: Adams Papers
Title: Monday Novr. 3. 1783.
Author: Adams, John Quincy
Date: 3 November 1783

Reference

Cite as: “Monday Novr. 3. 1783.,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/03-01-02-0005-0012-0003. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Diary of John Quincy Adams, vol. 1, November 1779 – March 1786, ed. Robert J. Taylor and Marc Friedlaender. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981, p. 199.]